AIDS is not simply an illness or a biomedical phenomenon. The conference cycle "AIDS in Culture" organised by Enkidu Magazine in Mexico City and the International Society for Cultural History and Cultural Studies (CHiCS) in cooperation with CNDH (The National Human Rights Commission in Mexico) seeks to examine cultural responses to AIDS in different cultures and societies across a wide range of perspectives.

The conference will explore the processes by which AIDS is constructed as a cultural phenomenon and how different societies in their encounters with AIDS attempt to create meaning in health, illness and disease. The conference aims at bringing together academics working in all relevant disciplines as well as activists, artists and other professionals, and promoting innovative multidisciplinary and multicultural exchange and dialogue.

Also in 2009 the conference will follow a similar model as in previous years with a large number of thematic sessions addressing several different issues. Papers are welcomed on virtually all related topics and themes related to the cultural and social construction of Aids, independently of time period and space. Also papers of comparative phenomena will be considered. Interdisciplinary perspectives are encouraged.

Among the themes of interest are the following:

- AIDS and Cultural Texts: Power and Representation. - Representations of AIDS in art, movies, music, poetry, religion and literature from the 1980s until today. - Silences and taboos in discourses on HIV/AIDS. - Aesthetic responses to the challenge. Rituals, customs, and fetishism. - Cultural practices that influence the spread of HIV/AIDS - AIDS and collective and individual identities: Race, Class, Gender etc - AIDS and Politics, Lobbying and Activism: Power, Representation and Activism. - Constructions and reconstructions of AIDS in political, faith and ideology based discourse, legal issues and policy making throughout the world: Who has the authority to speak and who is silenced? - AIDS and theory: Cultural Studies, Queer Studies, Religious Studies, History, Anthropology, Sociology, Literary Studies and all related disciplines. How do we theorize and analyse experiences and the meaning of illness? - The ,significance' of AIDS for individuals and communities; the cultural factors influencing our perceptions of health and illness experiences. - AIDS and psychosocial affects and effects. Cultures of silence. - Indigenous knowledge and responses to AIDS - Stories and Histories about AIDS - AIDS and Oral History

Papers will be considered on related themes and topics from a wide range of perspectives. Interdisciplinary perspectives are especially welcomed since all these topics in themselves stretch across several disciplines: history, literary studies, linguistics, psychology, political sciences, pedagogy, ethnology, anthropology, sociology...

Graduate and postgraduate students are encouraged to attend and present papers. Selected papers from the conference will also this year be published in book form.

* PAPER AND PANEL PROPOSALS

500 word abstracts should be submitted to the organising committee in English, Castilian, German or French by 15, October 2009. The conference languages will be English and Castilian. Interpretations of the conference theme ranging from the predictable to the surprising are encouraged.

Papers should be of approximately 20 - 30 minutes duration (circa 8 - 10 pages). Other forms of presentation, for instance workshops, panel debates and poster sessions will be considered on request.

* PROPOSALS FOR PANEL SESSIONS

Typically, a panel of academic papers should include 3 (maximum 4) speakers and 1 moderator (session chair). Each session will last for 2 hours allowing for 30 minutes for each speaker and a further 30 minutes for questions and discussion.

Proposers should submit: (1) Session title and a session intro (ca 100 words), (2) Paper titles, (3) Abstracts for each paper (500 words), (4) Short biography for each participant and the panel chair (ca 100-150 words), (5) Institutional affiliation and address for each participant, (6) Audio-visual and other technical requirements.

If you would like to propose a panel session, and want assistance in finding speakers and/or a session chair, we can publish a call for papers for your panel session on the conference web site and distribute it in our newsletter. If you have an idea for a thematic panel session and would like us to publish a call for papers on the conference website, please send us a proposal by e-mail to info@aidsinculture.org

* PROPOSALS FOR INDIVIDUAL PAPERS

Abstracts are to be submitted by 1. October, along with the presenter's name, address, telephone, email, and institutional affiliation. It is recommended to use the form here:

when submitting an abstract. However, abstracts will also be accepted as e-mail attachments to info@aidsinculture.org All correspondence for this conference will be conducted via email. Full conference papers should be submitted by the 1st of November 2009. Abstracts and summaries of the conference papers will be made available at the conference web page.

We acknowledge receipt and answer to all paper proposals submitted within few days. If you do not receive a reply from us in a week you should assume we did not receive your proposal; it might be lost in cyberspace! We suggest, then, to resend your abstract and resubmit your registration form, and if possible, suggest an alternative e-mail address. In particular delegates using hotmail or yahoo accounts to receive conference. Related e-mails often experience problems receiving conference information by e-mail.

The first address is the general e-mail address of AIDSinCULTURE.org and will be used to send conference newsletters and general information. The second is the e-mail address of the academic coordinator of the conference and will be used for individual communication with delegates.

* EXHIBITORS, PUBLISHERS AND ARTISTS:

Artists are welcome to suggest exhibitions and displays of art during the conference.

Organisations, universities and publishers are welcome to sign up for information stands at the conference center.

The following information is required by artists, publishers and other exhibitors during the conference:

1) Technical Description of the information stand or artwork with indications of technical requirements for their presentation, the size and extension of the individual artworks to be presented.

2) Estimated Insurance value of the artworks.

3) One image of a representative sample of artistic work from the exhibitions can be sent by e-mail to the conference organizers in the format tiff or jpg.

Payment in cash, payment on location, and payments received after 1. November 2009:

- Waged delegates (speakers): 175 USD/1800 MXP

Enkidu and the participating organisations will not be able to provide travel support for conference delegates. It is therefore strongly recommended to apply for a scholarship or a grant from other sources.